


Late Nights

by Overwatchdaydreams



Series: Genji Shimada [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, Romance, mutual secret crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 09:58:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9650651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Overwatchdaydreams/pseuds/Overwatchdaydreams
Summary: Tumblr request from anon: genji's crush has awful nightmares (something he can relate to) and often spends the nights outside her (their? i'm not sure what your rules are about readers' pronouns) bedroom somewhere else on the base. genji ends up running into them because he doesn't need to sleep all that much and they end up spending most nights together, just talking or hanging out; it becomes something of a tradition. eventually it leads to one of them confessing their feelings for the other.





	

It had started out as a need to move, a desperate desire to be outside and away from your bed. First you did some stretching in the common area, then you would make tea and read in the kitchen, go for a run in the pitch-black night with nothing more than a flashlight to show you the road. It helped ease your mind while you were awake, though it never stopped your mind from dreaming at night. If you were lucky enough to get a bit of sleep you always woke with a start, thinking someone was hovering just over your bed, or there was a member of Talon creeping outside your door. As silly as the nightmares were when you were conscious they felt as real as anything else when you were dreaming.  
Seeking guidance you had once asked Soldier:76 how he handled any bad dreams, but his advice left something to be desired. “You pick yourself up and move on.” Maybe that had worked for him, but it was hard for you to do. How can you move on when you aren’t even consciously thinking about anything? After that you couldn’t bring yourself to mention it; if your mentor couldn’t help you then how could someone else? Not to mention your teammates all seemed so...well adjusted to the battles you all faced each day. And you couldn’t help but notice nobody else was wandering the halls of Overwatch at night--at least nobody you had seen.

Unbeknownst to you, Genji would watch you at night. At first he’d tried finding the courage to talk to you, but hearing you sigh made him stop. He would only be burdening you by forcing you into a conversation when you were so clearly tired. So he stayed back, kept his distance, until you nodded off in the kitchen and awoke with a scream. You’d thrown a knife directly at him, one you kept in your sleeve and often touched as you wandered in the dark. He’d dodged it easily, of course, but the event had shaken you enough that you admitted your nightmares to him. 

You were caught off guard when he said, “I understand. I do not sleep as often as I once did, and I have made peace with my demons but...I remember what it is like.”  
You’d stared at him for a long moment, surprised the quiet man would admit something so personal to you. That was enough to ease your mind, if only a little. Hearing that someone else experienced nightmares, ones that they had worked through, reminded you that it was normal. You were a soldier--nightmares would come. And as Genji had said, they would go, too.  
Still, it had become a habit to stay up at night, but now you knew you weren’t alone. Genji would spend nights with you, sometimes in silence, sometimes listening to your worries, and other times telling you of his home.  
Days turned to weeks, until three months had passed of quick sleepless nights. You’d spent them reading together, running, meditating, and slowly you began to find you’d fall asleep. The first time it had happened you were laying on the couch watching a movie, your feet draped over Genji’s lap after he insisted your stretch out after a long run. First you were laughing at the predictability of the movie, and the next thing you knew the sun was coming through the window. You’d woken slowly, feeling Genji’s fingertips sliding gently across the skin on your bare foot, your eyelids easily lifting when the light hit them. He’d stopped when he noticed you had woken.  
“How did you sleep?” he asked.  
“Um...I don’t know.”  
“You appeared peaceful.”  
“I don’t think I had any nightmares,” you said, confused. You sat up, throwing your legs over the side of the couch. You noticed the television was off. “How long was I out?”  
“Four hours and thirty-eight minutes,” Genji replied. You raised your eyebrows, rubbing at your eyes.  
“Damn, I don’t think I’ve slept that long since...even before I joined Overwatch.” You looked at the table where your book sat, the exact same place you’d left it. You looked to Genji who stayed beside you. “What did you do?”  
“I did not want to disturb you, so I waited for you to wake.”  
“For four hours?”  
“And thirty-eight minutes.” He chuckled. “I meditated for a time.”  
Genji didn’t accept your apologies, insisting you had no reason to apologize. When you’d watching him walk away at the first sign of other’s waking you felt yourself blush. Your heart had given a little skip, and the knot in your chest didn’t unwind the entire day, not until you saw him again.  
Each morning when you would part that knot would wind just little bit tighter. It was especially unbearable the mornings you realized you had passed out with him at your side. It felt wrong to sleep while he wasn’t, though he had told you he didn’t require much sleep anymore.  
But the nights you stayed awake? You didn’t give your nightmares much thought. The still occurred, but they were less frequent now. Less intense. Instead, your mind focused on Genji and his stories; he’d tell you about his time in Nepal, the years he spent as a nomad, and briefly how he came to terms with his new body. He admitted he still felt an outcast at times, and when he did you couldn’t stop your arms from going around him. They looped easily around the back of his neck, pulling him to your level as you buried your face into the crook of his neck.  
“You’re not an outcast, Genji,” you told him, “not while I’m around.”  
He hesitated before hugging you, his touch light on your back. When you parted you felt a chill run over your skin, and the only thing you could think to say was, “Want some tea?”  
You flinched as soon as the words left your mouth; up until that point Genji had never taken his mask off. But that night, four months after your friendship began, he removed his faceplate.  
You knew you had stared a little too long, but how could you not? Genji’s dark eyes stared right through you, and the scars that covered his face were a reminder to you that he had truly been through hell. And he made it out, with both physical and mental scars, and managed to defeat his demons. When his cheeks began to turn red you quickly made the tea and passed him a cup, mumbling that he had very pretty eyes. He turned away from you then, and you weren’t sure what his reaction was.  
When he left again later that morning, you let out a sigh, finally understanding that knot in your chest. You just didn’t understand what you were supposed to do with it.  
That knot wound so tightly around you it was hard to breathe the next night when you waited for Genji to arrive. You sat in the kitchen, staring at a book but not reading a single word, listening intently for any trace of the man’s footsteps. You knew you wouldn’t hear him, you never did, so every few seconds you would glance up at the doorway, expecting to see him standing there.  
But you never did see him standing there. Not that night, or the next. Or the next. Or the next. You waited up each night, unable to fall asleep for more than a few minutes, wondering where he was. You asked around, and people would mention they saw him meditating somewhere, or walking in the garden, only for you to arrive and find the area empty.  
You’d thought you must have done something terribly wrong for someone with such a gentle soul to avoid you with such fervour. You went through the last night you’d spent with him, wondering what it could have been. Was it the hug? Your staring? The tea? You had no idea. You sat on the rooftop patio, wearing nothing but a light sweater to keep the winter cold away, and thought through everything a hundred times. You hadn’t noticed you had started to shiver, the small metal bench doing little to comfort you. You hugged your arms close to your body, staring up at the stars.  
“You will catch a cold out here,” Genji said. You jumped as he placed a blanket around your shoulders, standing to face him. His faceplate was on, making him as unreadable as ever. You were willing to let the blanket drop, already forgotten, but Genji held in in place, clasping it shut in front of you.  
“You’re here,” you stated simply.  
“I could hear your teeth chatter from below,” he replied. It was meant to be a joke but you didn’t laugh. Neither did he. His hand hovered between you both but you didn’t want to take the blanket from him, fearing he would leave again.  
“Where have you been?” you asked. “You haven’t…”  
Haven’t what? It wasn’t like your nights spent together were something you scheduled, nor did either of you promise to tell the other if you couldn’t make it. It just happened, and you’d started falling asleep more and more during them. Maybe he had grown tired of watching you doze off while he was forced to stay nearby with your feet or head resting on him. Your eyes fell to the floor. Suddenly you realized what a burden you must have been to him.  
“I’m sorry,” you whispered, taking the blanket between your fingers. Your grip was weak, barely keep the warm fabric around you. “I know you have better things to do than keep me entertained.”  
Genji shifted, his head tilting to the left. With his mask on you couldn’t tell where he was looking, and it forced you to glance away.  
“I enjoy our time together,” he finally said.  
“Then what happened?” You asked it without thought, desperate for an answer. Part of you wanted him to say he was busy with other things, that he hadn’t given you much thought, but part of you wanted something else. Anything else to show that the possible reality he didn’t care about you was false.  
Slowly, Genji raised his hands and pulled off his faceplate. He took his time bringing his eyes to meet yours, but when they did you felt a surge of electricity burst through you. “I feared it would be too hard to part when you returned to your room.”  
You blinked at him. “What?”  
“You have been able to sleep more and more,” he explained, his eyes never leaving yours. You couldn’t look away either, trapped in his gaze. “I enjoy our time together, I thought it would hurt too much when you choose to sleep in your room, behind a shut door.”  
There was a long silence before you could say anything. “You’re saying you would...miss me?”  
Genji’s chin flinched towards his chest but he managed a nod. A giggle escaped your lips, which you quickly covered with a hand. He looked up at you, eyebrows raised and mouth agape at your reaction.  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I was just thinking, that I did something terrible and you hated me. And I’m just really happy that you don’t hate me.” Tears began to brim your lashes at the idea that Genji was avoiding you because he liked you so much.  
“I could never hate you.”  
You smiled. “I’m glad you don’t hate me Genji, because I really love you.”  
Before the first tear could fall past your lips Genji wiped it away with a thumb. His fingers laced through your hair in a fast movement that pulled you close, his lips crashing against yours. The sudden force stopped, and the kiss turned gentle, your eyelashes brushing against your cheeks. You let the blanket drop, your hands pressing against Genji’s chest.  
Genji pulled back quickly. “I am sorry, I should not have…I was...I had never imagined you could feel the same way about me as I do you.”  
“You love me, too?”  
His thumb swept across your cheek. “More than I thought possible.”


End file.
